Conveyer belt



July 28, 1931. J. C.ANDER$ON 1,816,559

EEEEEEEEEE LT Patented July 28, 1931 I PATENT." OFFICE JOHN C. ANDERSON,OF KEYPOBT, NEW JERSEY coNvEYEn BELT Application filed July 23, 1927.Serial No. 207,844.

My invention relates to conveyers, and more particularly to those of thewoven wire type, such as are formed by helically interlaced strands ofwire that are disposed transversely of the longitudinal axis of thebelt, as shown, for example, in Patent No. 1,583,046, issued to H. W.Ingle on May 4, 1926. v

In this type of conveyer belt, the helices produce a diagonally ribbedsurface which tends to cause the belt to creep laterally when passingaround rollers or over supporting surfaces. Heretofore, efforts havebeen made to overcome or counter-act this tendency of the belt to creepin one lateral direction, as by dividing the belt into sections whichare placed end to end to form the belt, the strands of certain sectionsbeing in-the form of left hand helices and the strands of other sectionsbeing in the form of right hand helices, but it will be seen that insuch structures there is tendency to ilisplacement of the belt laterallyon z ig-zag mes.

- Stated broadly, my invention contemplates the provision of beltsections that aredivided on a line extending longi-' tudinally of thebelt, and has for one of its objects the provision of a belt of thecharacter referred to wherein the form of connection is such as torender the belt readily flexible in' passing around pulleys or rollseven of relatively small diameter, and wherein there is no substantialamount of driving strain imposed upon the connection between the beltsections. 4

Another object of my invention is to simplify and improve generally beltstructures of the typereferred to. I

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is adiagrammatic view that isrepresentative of a conveyer'belt made of two longitudinally-dividedsections that have right and left hand weaves, respectively, and showingthe tendency of the sections to creep in diagonally-opposite directionsFig. 2 is a View showing belt sections connected by a flexible cable; VF ig'. 3 is a view showing a manner in which the sections may be joinedwithout the necessity of employing an additional connecting member;

Fig. 4 shows belt sections connected by a helical strand;

Fig. 5 shows sections held together by ring-like holding members orlinks, and

Fig. 6 is a view showing belt sections held in cooperative relation by achain.

In assembling the mesh structures 6 and 7 to form a conveyer belt, I-prefer to so place them that their ribbed surfaces which or connectingmember 8, so thatthe belt will lie flat. If the diagonal lines convergedwith respect to the path of travel of the belt, as in case the belt weredriven in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig.1, the sections would tend to move toward the longitudinal center lineof the belt and exert a compressive force at their line of juncture,thereby causing the belt to bulge at its mid portion, which would notonly create an undesirable distortion of the belt, but result inupsetting or displacement of the glassware or other'articles conve edthereby.

he connecting member 8, Fig. 2, is shown as a flexible cable, so that itwill bendreadily in passing around rollers that are employed for drivingand guiding the belt. The ends of pairs of strands 9 and 10, forinstance, are 'bent around the cable and preferably have pivotalmovement thereon, thus increasing the flexibility of the belt. v In Fig.3, the strands of adjacent belt sections are directly connected to one,another, b so bending the ends of adjacent strands of the respectivebelt sections that they have flexible interlocking connection m with oneanother, as shown-at 11 and 12., In

this case, as in the structure of Fig.1 2, the belt may bend readily inpassing around a roller, and there is no great driving strainv imposedupon the connecting means.

Referring to Fig. 4, I show a structure that is composed of beltsections wherein the ends of adjacent strands of each section.

are bent into interlocking engagement, as indicated at 13 and 14; Thebelt sections are secured by a spirally-extending wire or cable 15 thatpasses behind the interlocking strand ends at 13 and 1 1. In thisarrangement, as in the case of Fig. 2, the connecting member 15 willflex in passing around rollers.

Referring to 5, I show belt sections whose strand ends are interlockedin a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 4, as indicated at the points16 and 17 In this form of device, the belt sections are held together byrings or links 18 that extend around various strands of one belt sectionand adjacent strands of the other belt section. This arrangement permitsflexureof the belt sections without binding of the parts upon oneanother, and nevertheless eflectively .:holds them against spreadingapart.

In Fig. 6, I show a chain composed of links 19 and 20 for connecting thebelt sections. The strand ends of the belt sections .are bent around thehorizontally-disposed links 19, as indicated at 21 and 22.

In the case of Figs. 2, 5 and6, the mems bers 8, 18 and 20 respectively,are of such diameter that there will be neither a depres sion nor arib-like projection along the connecting line of the belt sections. Forinstance, the diameter ,of the cable 8 is sufficiently small that thebent ends of the strands 8 and '9 will not project above the upper planeofthe belt sections 6 and 7, while the upper surfaces of the links 18and 20 lie in approximately the uppermost plane of the belt sectionswithwhich they are associated.

In the case of Fig. 3, the joints 11 and 12 are so formed that they.will not project abovethe upper plane of the belt, while in Fig. 4, theconnecting strand 15 is disposed avoiding t in substantially the planeof the other strands. 1

By' avoiding a ridge or a depression along the line of juncture of thebelt sections, a more nearly level surface is provided for receivingglassware or other articles, thus e tipping over of the same.

In the case of each embodiment of my invention disclosed herein, it isto be noted that each strand of helical wire forms asubstantialicontinuation of a strand of the adjacent'section of thebelt, the two aligned strands being in efiect, one transverse strandhaving one-half 'formed with a right-hand twist and the other halfformed with a lefthand twist. Thus, there is no relative movementbetween the aligned strands, as the belt is flexed in passing around therolls, By this construction wear at the connection is minimized and anytendency toward dis tortion or creeping of the belt, due to relativemovement of two connected strands which are out of alignmenttransversely of Y the belt, is eliminate g The term helical, as appliedto the wires described herein and as that term is used in the claims, isnot to be construed as l iinwires between adjacent edges of said sec-'tions.

2. Conveyer belt structure comprising a pair of longitudinally-extendingsections each composed of wire fabric formed of helical strands, thestrands in one section being wound in a direction opposite to thestrands of the other section, and an intermediate connecting memberabout which the strand ends at adjacent edges of the sec tionsare bent.I v

3. Conveyer belt structure comprising a pair of longitudinally extendingsections each composed bf helically wound wires extending transverselyof the belt and each having a surface diagonallv ribbed along lines atangles to the ribs or the other, an

link members each encircling a part of the fabric of each section andoining the adjacent edges of the sections.

4. Conveyer belt structure comprising pair of longitudinally extendinsections each composed of wire fabric helical strands, "xtendingtransversely of the belt, the strands in each section being ormed ofwound in a direction opposite to the strands of the other section, andan intermediate connecting member joining the adjacent edges of thesections and comprising links engaging the strands of each section, and

other links connecting the first named links.

5. Helically' wound wire conveyer belt structure comprising a pair oflongitudinally extending sections each composed of helically wound wiresextendin transversely of the belt and connecting e ements joining saidsections, the adjacent connecting elements being joined to each other.

6. Helically wound wire conveyer belt structure comprisinglongitudinally extending sections each composed of helically wound wiresextending transversely of the belt, and means for joining said sectionscomprising a flexible connecting element.

7. Helically wound wire conveyer belt structure comprising a pluralityof longitudinally extending sections each composed of helically woundwires extending transverselyof the belt, and connecting means for thesaid sections comprising an element extending longitudinally of thebelt.

8. Helically wound wire conveyer belt structure comprising a pluralityof longitudinally extending sections each composed of helic ally woundwires extending transversely of the belt, and means for joining saidsections comprising a plurality of links independent of said helicallywound wires fastened to the adjacent edges of said sections.

9. Helically wound wire conveyer belt structure comprising a pluralityof longitudinally extending sections each composed of helically woundwires extending transversely of the belt, and means for joining the saidsections comprising a chain joined to the adjacent edges of thesections.

10. A wire fabric composed of two longitudinally extending sections,each section composed of helical members extending crosswise of thesection and interlocking, the members of one section being reverselyarranged to those of the other section, with the members of one sectionarranged in pairs in alignment with pairs of the other section, andmeans for uniting the inner ends of each pair of members of one sectionwith the inner ends of each pair of members of the other section.

11. Co'nveyer belt structure comprising a pair of longitudinallyextending sections, each composed of wire fabric formed of helicalstrands, the strands in one section being wound in a direction oppositeto the strands of the other section, with the helical strand of onesection in transverse alignment with those of the other section, andmeans for connecting the sections together.

12. A woven wire conveyer comprising a series of interwoven helicalwires extending transversely of theconveyer, the wires having a righthand twist at one sideof the longitudinal median line of the conveyerand a left hand twist at the other side of such median line, the axes ofthe helixes of the opposite right and left wires being in line and theinner ends of the aligned wires being connected with each other.

13. Conrcyer belt structure comprising a plurality of pairs of helicalstrands, each pair comprising one strand of right hand twist and onestrand of left hand twist the axes of the helixes being alignedtransversely of the belt, one end of each strand being connected with anend of the strand that is aligned therewith, and each pair of strandsbeing interwoven with the adjacent pairs of strands. Y v

14. A wire fabric composed of two longitudinally extending'sections,each section being .composed of helical members extend-. ing crosswiseof the section and interlocking, the members of one section beingreversely arranged to those of the other section, and a spiral wireconnection interwoven between said sections, whereby said in the othersection, and another of said links engaging a member forming one ofanother pair in said other section.

Signed at Keyport, N. J., this 18th da of July 1927.

JOHN C. ANDERSON.

